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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413396">Little Kisses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohutblog/pseuds/ohutblog'>ohutblog</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate Atlantis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Pandemics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:34:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,385</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413396</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohutblog/pseuds/ohutblog</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>My (21M) flatmate (20M) keeps giving me lil kisses when he thinks I'm asleep. How do I ask him to do it when I'm awake too?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rodney McKay/John Sheppard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Little Kisses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/popkin16/gifts">popkin16</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What's wrong with you?"</p>
<p>These words of his flatmate interrupted the silence that they had been spreading in their kitchen since his last attempt at flirting - or rather failed attempt, as it had now turned out to be.</p>
<p>Maybe he shouldn't have tried these stupid suggestions from the internet, but everything on this damned website had sounded so logical and promising. Was he really that wrong about Rodney's feelings? After all, it was his fault. Stupid kissing!</p>
<p>It all had started with a violent pandemic of the coronavirus that drove half of the U.S. population back into their homes. No one wanted to go outside the door unless it was absolutely necessary. Purchases were only done once a week or when he looked at his neighbors, probably for the whole month. Honestly, who needed so much toilet paper? These people were over eighty, they're not going to shit that much anymore in life. </p>
<p>But anyway, since his roommate, whom John had met in math class a year ago, had to spend his spring break in their apartment, now that his country had closed the borders and his sister in Canada had a little girl that Rodney didn't want to endanger unnecessarily, since he was convinced that their practiced vegetarianism couldn't be good for soul and health, he seemed more and more annoyed by boredom. </p>
<p>At the beginning, it was still quite funny, since Rodney had bought liters of disinfectant and after his cleaning, their apartment was probably more sterile than any operating room. John had been surprised by a cloud of Sagrotan, which had come floating his way one afternoon, as he had returned from his daily run. He had wanted to ask if he could still enter the hallway or if he should wait on a park bench until his roommate had polished the entire house so that the sun would be reflected in their windows and cause the aircrafts to crash. </p>
<p>However, his humor had been only punished with an evil eye and before John had been able to plan his escape, he had been sprayed with a good portion of the stinking disinfectant. Well, he would have to go to blind school now, but at least he wouldn't die of covid-19.</p>
<p>But after Rodney had made the house shine, the cat had hopefully saved itself in the park or had been drowned in soapy water and the door knobs were now so clean that one slipped off when you tried to touch it, the Canadian had come into his room with a serious expression on his face. </p>
<p>"John, I want you to listen to me carefully. This virus should be taken seriously, including you Mr. I-don't-give-a-shit. Especially with your health issues, you should only go outside when you're alone. No more meeting friends, no trips to the library at night, and so god help me, no more experiments on your skateboard. I won't set a foot in a hospital just because you broke all your bones. Do you even know how much bacteria and viruses are alone on one of these uncomfortable plastic chairs or..."</p>
<p>He hadn't heard the rest of the speech because he had been touched that Rodney cared so much that he had not only disinfected their apartment because of him, but had also created a plan of when who would go shopping and which pharmacy was the best for him to get his medication quickly and without contact. </p>
<p>He had suffered from anemia for years, which he could live with because he got the right treatment. Rodney had found it out by accident shortly after they had moved in together, when he had slept for almost 16 hours on a bad day and just left his room to go to the bathroom or have a drink. The physicist had wanted to call an ambulance at the time, but he had stopped him from doing so and told him or better, confessed that his blood could not supply his organs with enough oxygen and that's why he was often tired as a result, so he had to take a nap or two. But due to this pre-existing condition, he was now one of these risk groups, which his roomamte had probably taken more seriously than he did.</p>
<p>Of course, after the number of infected people continued to rise, the government had declared that there would be restrictions and people should avoid contact with other human beings, which was easy because schools, universities and shops that didn't sell food were closed anyway, but unfortunately also meant that at the moment Rodney was acting like a drug addict without supplies. </p>
<p>So it happened that one day after his flatmate's cleaning routine, which also included numerous disinfectant soaps, if one could trust the smell, Rodney had come into their living room. John, himself, had just had a short nap and his eyes still closed, when his friend had paused in the middle of the room for a while, apparently wondering what he should do next. After the other man had obviously made his decision and was approaching the couch on which John had been lying, all things had gone south. Instead of taking the physics books that he had used as a coaster for his hot plate, Rodney had leaned in gently, giving him a barely noticeable kiss on the forehead. </p>
<p>John had been so shocked that he hadn't moved or done anything that would have given him away that he hadn't slept anymore. As with the animals in Africa, they also acted dead to avoid worse, but he hadn't been able to lie down forever, sooner or later he had had to get up and face the lion in the shape of his flatmate.</p>
<p>To his astonishment, however, Rodney hadn't commented on the incident and didn't seem to do anything to continue to approach him in this kind of way. On the  contrary, when John had to leave the house, the other man immediately pushed him into the bathroom afterwards and forced him to take a shower because he was probably worried that the virus could get caught in his stupid hair, since it wouldn't stick to the laws of gravity either. He got sick at the thought of how high the bill for water would be this month or whether the other residents would storm into their flat when the hot water was constantly exhausted. If they wouldn't slip on a puddle of Sagrotan that appeared more and more often when Rodney had scrubbed their apartment door, that is.</p>
<p>He was unable to distinguish why his roommate acted so distantly. Was he afraid he might infect John as he was the one who did most of the shopping or was the Canadian afraid of him because Rodney was convinced that he didn't take the virus seriously enough just because he had every now and then left the house to go for a run and enjoy the fresh air. John would never admit that he had spent a lot of time pondering what the kiss could mean.</p>
<p>However, the last few days hadn't changed his confusion. As soon as Rodney came out of his room, he kept the distance, although otherwise it was the canadian man who sought physical closeness. When they got a visitor, his flatmate was always next to him on the couch touching John's leg with his thigh, he playfully nudged his shoulder when he was joking or squeezed his hand encouragingly when he had another unsightly phone call with Dave.</p>
<p>He also loved hugging other people, or rather people he didn't like. John couldn't help laughing when he had witnessed a heated discussion between Rodney and his lab partner Radek because the Canadian had found a mistake in an equation. When Radek had run out of arguments, his roommate had approached the smaller man, hugged him, patted him on the shoulder and said that one day he would understand the principles of mathematics if he blieved in miracles. What followed had been colorful insults in czech.</p>
<p>John was more of a man who avoided touching people wherever possible. He could blame his childhood for that. Shortly after his birth, his mother had died, his father then had distanced himself and his brother still blamed him for the fact that their family was only a single heap of rubble. </p>
<p>That's why you could add up one and one, and realize that he wasn't a genius when it came to social interactions. So one night he had reached out to the people on the internet in pure desperation and described his case.</p>
<p>
  <em>My (21M) flatmate (20M) keeps giving me lil kisses when he thinks I'm asleep. How do I ask him to do it when I'm awake too?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>To simplify the matter, I'll call my roommate "Mer".</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I met him in my math class at our university a year ago and when we had to leave the dorm, we moved into a apartment for the intended purpose. Even if Mer has never shown any romantic interest in me, there are small gestures that keep astonishing me, because otherwise my roommate is rather the opposite of caring. Some call him arrogant, but I see him as a genius and know he'll always have my back.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>However, at the moment we are both in quarantine and Mer takes care of shopping, cleaning the flat and purchasing my meds, so that I don't have to leave the house. Even so, he worries about me because I have a condition that makes me to a honored member of the so called risk groups. But recently he has adjusted his needs for closeness (he's a person who likes to touch other people - in a platonic way, of course) and maintains physical distance, except for the kissing part. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>My question is, what does it mean and how do I react to it?</em>
</p>
<p>The next morning, there were almost a hundred replies to his post. People had to be really bored during these strange times. Unfortunately, the comments weren't very helpful. There were all kinds of answers, from "Dude, just talk to him" to "Kiss back and enjoy the ride". </p>
<p>John didn't want to try any of it. He knew that he would have to talk to Rodney sooner or later, but he had hoped he would get some tips, so that he knew how to start the conversation. And just kiss back? Would be an easy solution, but if he misunderstood the situation, he would have to find a new roommate, which he definitely wanted to prevent, thank you very much.</p>
<p>As he continued to read the replies, one caught his eye.</p>
<p>
  <em>Dear boy_with_crazy_hair,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>it seems to me that you and your roommate are already living in a relationship. Please don't get me wrong, but you live with Mer, you definitely do things together, you two study at the same university and let me guess, you probably have the same group of friends.<br/>
If you say he cares about you and keeps distance, he is probably afraid that he could infect you and it's probably hard because he's a person who likes to feel physical closeness. That's why the kissing is his way of dealing with the situation.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Greetings,<br/>
Weird.Weir</em>
</p>
<p>Whoever this Weird.Weir was, she had a point. Maybe John had long been in a relationship and he hadn't even realized that Rodney might feel more for him than friendship. </p>
<p>But when he kept the last year in mind, he noticed that his roommate was a person looking for closeness, but there was a special bond between him and the physicist. It was not for nothing that Carson and Teyla joked that they would behave like an old married couple. But this potential knowledge had still not been an answer to his question. What should he do?</p>
<p>After several minutes of desperate pacing, John realized that he had to make a move. All or nothing. Maybe it wouldn't end in complete disaster. </p>
<p>That's why he gathered all his courage and decided to cook dinner. Thanks to Rodney, the fridge was full, but John chose a traditional meal, spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese. Boring, his brother would scream, but to be honest, it was the only dish he could cook, where he was sure he wouldn't let it burn. So he took one of the numerous pasta packages out of the cupboard, cut fresh tomatoes and herbs into small pieces, let everything simmer until it became a delicious sauce and effortlessly sliced the parmesan cheese.</p>
<p>Just as he was setting the table and lighting a candle, Rodney came through the door and stopped dead in the kitchen. His gaze fell on their dinner and from a second to another, his face darkened and he carelessly threw the soap, which he had absolutely wanted to get this afternoon, into a corner and came up to John.</p>
<p>"What's wrong with you?"</p>
<p>A sinking feeling spread through his stomach. So he had misjudged the situation after all. Relationship, my ass. It would have been to much to hope for.</p>
<p>"I know you don't care about the situation out there, but are you really that stupid? To this day, I have still believed that you have common sense. Guess, I was wrong."</p>
<p>Rodney came closer and closer with every word.</p>
<p>"John, do you really want to risk your health? I can understand if you are longing for company, but at least I thought that I'd be enough, but then you have to invite someone into our apartment. Well, do as you please. Have your candle light dinner with... What's her name again? Chaya! Right, have your romantic dinner with that Chaya girl, but then please don't come anywhere near me."</p>
<p>When Rodney was about to turn around, John grabbed him and kissed him on the mouth. So that was the reason why his roomate made such a scene. He was jealous. The sinking feeling in his stomach disappeared and he had to smile, when he noticed how the physicist raised his hand in alarm so he wouldn't touch him, but otherwise melted right into the kiss.</p>
<p>Maybe there would be happy ending for both of them and he couldn't have hoped for a better quarantine partner.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>English isn't my native language.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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